Scott Baldinger reports from Hudson. The young contemporary jeweler Alexander Blank may hearald from Munich, Germany, where he studied his art at the university level. (He is pictured here to the left of Stefan Friedman and Laura Lapachiy, owners of the Ornamentum Gallery, where his work is being displayed under the rubric Blank Planet). But like a lot of Europeans, he is obsessed with American culture, and the show of his work at the Hudson gallery reflects that. At the opening reception on Saturday, April 20, steadfast Ornamentum admirers viewed Blank's sparse, sometimes surrealist oeuvre, the focal feature of which were pendants modeled after Chuck Jones' Looney Tune characters — Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, The Tasmanian Devil among them — only this time in postmortem skeletal form. The "joke" (ah, the Germans!) was actually giggle-inducing, and so the reception attendees, much of them creative jewelers themselves, responded in kind.
Jewelers Atsuko Bauman and Satoru Bauman, with SUNY New Paltz professor Kerianne Quick; Alexander Blank with Our Town's John Issacs.
Jeweler Maija Neimanis with Nina Scheff; fine art jeweler Kevin Hughes and Jessica Hughes.
Hudson clothier Paul de Marchin with Verdigris baker Regina Simmons; Susan Marme and Michael Marme.
Café Omi chef Robin McKay and contractor Stuart Farmery.
Realtor Peggy Polenberg, artist Myron Polenberg, and Nora Peck; Taz, Blank's version of the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
